A Response to Those Who Defend Ta'weez

All praise is due to Allah alone, and may peace and blessings be upon his Messenger, and his family and his companions.

Having read the post from Sunni Path, supporting the use of ta'weez, I think that there is a need for a clear and simple response to the issues raised.

Before delving into the points made in the article, I would like the reader to consider the following questions:

We regularly hear people defending ta'weez that contain the Qur'an and Allah's names and attributes, but what do you think about the following:

Ta'weez that contain the names of shaytaan?

Ta'weez that contain the aayaat of Allah written backwards?

Ta'weez that contain symbols associated with the worship of the shaytaan, such as the so-called star of david, and the pyramids?

Ta'weez that contain illegible writing?

Ta'weez that contain pictures of the human body with words and symbols written over the top?

Ta'weez that contain the aayaat of Allah scribbled and not given proper respect?

Ta'weez that contain nothing except tables of numbers?

These are the vast majority of the ta'weez that we open every single week, with most of them issued by imams, scholars, and so-called 'pious people'. Now you have to make a choice between one of two things; either you defend these ta'weez, claiming that they are actually 'Qur'an' or that it is permissible to disgrace the words of Allah by scribbling them, or the reader has no choice but to admit that these ta'weez are by consensus of the scholars, haraam.

I estimate that I have opened somewhere between 500 and 1,000 ta'weez in my course of being a raaqi, and at the current count, less than ten of them contained clear Qur'an or the names of Allah, with nothing else written on them. In reality, this is just another example of the magicians hiding behind respectable scholars and their opinions.

We say to the people who make these so called ta'weez from the Qur'an: would you let the sick person simply print a page of the Qur'an and tie it around his or her neck? By Allah, you would not allow it. Instead, they have to use your 'special' writings, which they are not allowed to see or open, and often have to pay money for. If you really hold the opinion of 'Amr ibn al-'Aas (may Allah be pleased with him), why don't you allow the people to print a copy of aayat-ul-kursi from quran.com and tie it around their necks? It is the greatest aayah in the Qur'an, so why would it not protect them whilst your secret writings and scribbles can protect them? Has Allah given you something greater than aayat-ul-kursi, or is it that you seek help from the shaytaan? Where did you learn what those numbers and symbols mean? Why don't you share your books with us that tell you how to 'cure' someone with pictures of the pyramids and the star of david?

My brothers and sisters, these people hide behind legitimate opinions, in order to confuse you and take you away from the path of Allah. Let me give you an example:

How many of you looked at that list of people and believed them all to be from the companions? By Allah, there is only one companion mentioned in that whole list; all the rest are from the generations who came after them.

Furthermore, all of the narrations from that companion are weak. They contain Muhammad ibn Is-haaq, who is someone whose narration is not accepted unless he clearly states that he heard the hadith directly from his teacher (the Arabic term is: mudallis), which in this case he did not.

So, let me say explicitly that there is not one single companion from the companions of the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and may Allah be pleased with them) who allowed ta'weez of any kind, whether from the Qur'an or not!

Let us quote the author of the Musannaf in full:

"The Chapter of those who allowed the hanging of Ta'weez"
"The permissibility of this was reported from Sa'eed ibn al-Musayyib, 'Ataa', Mujaahid, Abu Ja'far al-Baaqir, 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr, Muhammad ibn Seereen, 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, and ad-Dahhaak and IT IS NOT AUTHENTIC from 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr, ad-Dahhaak, Mujaahid, and Ibn Seereen, and the rest are authentic."

The author himself says that there is no companion who this is authentically reported from, and that half of the taabi'een mentioned are also not authentic. This is in the very same passage that the author of the post quoted - so why did he choose to stop just before the part where the author says that it isn't authentic?

So out of that long list, we are left with 'Ataa, Abu Ja'far, and 'Ubaydullah - three people, none of whom were companions of the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and even their view says that the permissibility is limited to that which is from the Qur'aan alone!

On top of that, the very same book (al-Musannaf) mentions other narrations which state that all ta'weez are haraam, even if they come from the Qur'an (authentically narrated from the companions Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn 'Abbas, Hudhayfah, 'Uqbah ibn 'Aamir, and Ibn 'Ukaym - may Allah be pleased with them all). Why didn't the author include those narrations? Is it perhaps because he doesn't want you to know?

Even if we accept some or all of the narrations from people who allowed ta'weez, these people are talking about writing a simple aayah of the Qur'an, or some of the names of Allah, clearly and in a way that can be understood by everyone who reads it.

Don't be fooled by statements such as 'the vast majority of the scholars' and 'it is mentioned in such-and-such a book' - anyone can write words like these. Why don't we talk about something quantifiable, and say 'the vast majority of the companions, if not all of them, considered ta'weez to be haraam, in all of its forms'.

Finally, we say to the author of the Sunni Path post and his supporters: Do you know why some of the scholars allowed ta'weez from the Qur'an? Because it is the uncreated speech of Allah, and therefore cannot be considered shirk. Would you like to share with the brothers and sisters what you really believe about the Qur'an that we read, and that you claim to write on the ta'weez?

Allah knows best, and all praise is for Allah alone, and may peace and blessings be upon our messenger Muhammad, and his family and his companions.